Laura Hruska, co-founder of the Soho Press in 1986 (along with her husband, Alan Hruska, and their friend Juris Jurjevics) died Saturday at her home in Manhattan. While at Soho, Hruska helped to launch the careers of many prominent writers, including Edwidge Danticat, whose novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory began as a short story submitted to Laura. Other notable Soho authors have included Dan Fesperman, Robert Hellenga, Susan Richards, Garth Stein, and Jacqueline Winspear. As of January 1 Hruska’s daughter Bronwen Hruska took over as publisher of Soho Press. There will be a memorial service on Friday, January 15, at 11:30 […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, January 11
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Kenneth Harmon’s BETTER NOT POUT: A Tale of North Pole Noir, […]
Barnes & Noble College Rolls Out Textbook Rental Program
Expanding a pilot program begun last fall, Barnes & Noble College will let students rent textbooks online from their campus bookstore’s e-commerce site as well as through their stores. They will accept “any form of tender, including campus debit cards and student financial aid” as payment. Now featured in 25 of the 636 campus bookstores they operate, “in the coming months [the company] will dedicate significant resources to expanding its rental program to more of the colleges and universities it serves.”Release
Random House Publisher Services Repeats as Amazon's Distributor of the Year
For the second year in a row, Amazon has honored RH Publisher Services, the company’s third-party distribution service, “for its exemplary work in helping Amazon.com build a world-class customer experience through operational excellence.” The selection criteria listed include “short and consistent receive lead times to make tens of thousands of books available to ship within 24 hours; increasing the percentage of books available in digital format to Amazon Kindle customers; leveraging print-on-demand technology; and providing high-quality and authoritative ONIX data.”Release
People
Alicia Condon will leave Dorchester, where she has worked for the past 24 years, to become editorial director of Brava Books, taking over for the late Kate Duffy. She will report to Kensington editor-in-chief John Scognamiglio. Penguin Books publishing coordinator Tom Roberge has added the title of associate editor, Penguin Books. At Harper Canada, Jim Gifford has been promoted to Executive Editor. At Simon & Schuster’s Children’s, Annette Pollert has been promoted to associate editor at the Pulse imprint. Julie Doebler will add responsibility for production management for Simon Pulse, now joined by Sara Saidlower, who has switched to production […]
Bookseller Correct Aitken Alexander Results
The Bookseller has amended their article on UK agencies having trouble making profits. The 850,000-pound loss they reported for Aitken Alexander was incorrect; the agency made a post-tax profit of 62,000 pounds.Note at the end of article